An 18-year-old homeless man is being held in New Philadelphia City Jail after he was apprehended during an armed robbery Thursday morning.

Raven N. Taylor surrendered to police after being shot in the arm early Thursday with a “Super-Sock,” a 12-gauge “beanbag gun,” following several minutes of negotiations in the Circle K convenience store on Tuscarawas Avenue NW.

Sgt. Ty Norris said Officer James Miller was on patrol about 3 a.m. when he saw a male rounding the corner of the Circle K building. The male, later identified as Taylor, was carrying a handgun and his face was covered.

Miller stopped his cruiser a short distance away, and went back to the building, where he could see that Taylor already was inside holding a .45-caliber pistol on the clerk.

Miller stayed by his cruiser, radioed for backup, and soon was joined by three other officers — Norris, Capt. William Stewart and Officer David Morris.

As he and Miller approached the front of the store, Norris said, Taylor saw them “and started to make a beeline toward the back door.”

Norris immediately ran around the outside to the rear of the store, while Miller stayed at the front door. Stewart joined Miller and Morris went to the rear with Norris.

After waiting several minutes for the suspect to come out, New Philadelphia police called for assistance from the Dover Police Department, which responded with three officers.

Dover officers went to the rear of the building, and New Philadelphia officers concentrated their efforts on getting the clerk out of Circle K unharmed.

“Once that happened, we basically made the decision that this was a prime opportunity for less-than-lethal force possibly being deployed, and so that’s what I did,” Norris said.

While Norris prepared the shotgun, Stewart, Morris and Miller continued talking to Taylor, urging him to put the gun down, and “trying to resolve this as peacefully as we could,” Norris said.

“Once I got into position with the shotgun, he was asked again to put the handgun down. He basically told us that wasn’t going to happen, and at that point I felt we didn’t have any other option,” Norris said.

“So I made the decision to deploy the shotgun. I struck him in his left arm. He dropped the gun, he dropped the cash, and he was immediately taken into custody.”

Taylor was taken to Union Hospital in Dover, where he was treated for his injuries. Norris said the Super-Sock primarily causes soft tissue damage, including soreness and “a pretty good bruise.”

The Super-Sock, however, “did exactly what it was supposed to do,” Norris said. “Fifteen years ago when this technology wasn’t available, this could have ended differently.”